President Truman's Committee on Civil Rights - Microforms

Scope:
"This microfilm collection brings together the various manuscript material in
the Harry S. Truman Library at Independence, Missouri relative to the
President's Committee on Civil Rights (PCCR), 1946-1948." The committee
met 10 times from January to September 1947. "It solicited advice from
over 250 individuals and organizations and took formal testimony from nearly 40
experts in civil rights and civil liberties. In its report, To Secure These
Rights, presented to Truman in October 1947, the Committee attacked
segregation head on, called on the federal government to take the lead for civil
rights reform, and provided 34 far-reaching recommendations for specific
national, state and local action. With the PCCR report as inspiration,
Truman would present, within a year, a Special Message on Civil Rights to
Congress and issue executive orders to eliminate discrimination from the United
State civil service and armed forces." (Guide to President Truman's Committee on
Civil Rights)

The microfilm collection contains: both private and official correspondence;
transcripts of PCCR meetings; drafts of speeches and assorted working papers of
the committee; and the final report, To Secure These Rights.

How to search the collection:
There is no subject index for this collection. There is a reel index,
President Truman's Committee on Civil Rights (Microfilm E 185.61 P674 1984
Guide). This guide contains an introduction to the documents and a listing of
the order in which they appear on the microfilm.